Tuesday, December 6, 2011

On the down side, Jean Ann James's has a lawyer that is trying to appeal the verdict.

Jean James appealing murder verdict; video released of confession to 'Mr. Big'

The Vancouver Sun and Province jointly applied to B.C. Supreme Court to obtain and broadcast James' video-taped confession and were granted permission

METRO VANCOUVER -- A Richmond senior convicted last month of first-degree murder for the 1992 slaying of her husband's lover is appealing the jury's guilty verdict.

Jean Ann James, 72, admitted to undercover police posing as organized criminals that she slit the throat of Gladys Wakabayashi in June 1992 because the billionaire's daughter was sleeping with her husband, Derek James.

The confession to "Mr. Big" — the purported leader of the gang — came in November 2008, after almost a year-long operation in which the officers befriended James, earned her trust and got her involved in criminal acts for their fake counterfeit-goods ring.

Over 11 months, James worked her way up to meeting "Mr. Big" in a Montreal hotel room, where he talked to her about whether she was ready for a job in which she was going to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Vancouver Sun and Province jointly applied to B.C. Supreme Court to obtain and broadcast the video-taped confession and were granted permission by Justice Catherine Bruce as long as the images and voices of the undercover operators were altered to protect their identities.

James's appeal lawyer, Ravi Hira, said some of the prejudicial things James said during the 90-minute meeting in Montreal should not have been stressed during Bruce's charge to the jury.

"We are appealing on the grounds there was evidence that should not have been admitted for the jury and we are appealing based on the reliability of the alleged confession," Hira said.

The grounds in the appeal filed last week say: "That the learned trail judge erred in law by failing to exclude editable prejudicial evidence that was not probative of any issue led by the Crown in the various Mr. Big scenarios."

Hira also said the judge "erred in law by emphasizing in her charge to the jury the Crown's theory that no one else had a grudge against the deceased after disallowing defence counsel to cross-examine on that issue."

The final ground of appeal suggests Bruce also erred "by emphasizing in her charge to the jury various prejudicial comments made by the defendant and other bad character evidence relating to the defendant."

James was a suspect almost immediately after Wakabayashi's body was found in her palatial westside Vancouver home in the 6800-block of Selkirk on June 24, 1992. But there was no forensic evidence linking the retired flight attendant to the crime scene — Wakabayashi's master-bedroom suite on the upper floor of the house.

It wasn't until 2007 that the RCMP's provincial Unsolved Homicide Unit made another major effort to solve the case, developing a year-long "Mr. Big" operation where a number of officers posed as members of a crime ring and ingratiated themselves with James after a "chance" meeting at a spa.

Through a series of recorded meetings and events, it was clear James eagerly embraced her new criminal life, even offering to kill for the gang. She eventually confessed in chilling detail to her "crime boss" about how she cut Wakabayashi's legs with a box cutter as she probed for information about the affair, then slit her throat. The cold-blooded killer said she felt no regret.

The RCMP has used the "Mr. Big" technique in more than 350 criminal cases, with an amazing success rate.

Some critiques claim the scenarios are so elaborate and other-worldly that suspects make false confessions because they are caught up in the allure of potential profit, or are simply trying to impress people they think are high-level gangsters. And some targets have claimed they confessed because they were afraid of what their new associates might do to them if they didn't admit guilt.

"The undercover operators cultivate an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, which also creates a significant degree of psychological influence over the target," said Simon Fraser University PhD student Kouri Keenan, who co-authored a 2010 book called Mr. Big: Exposing Undercover Investigations in Canada. "The combination of the enticements or the inducements and the fear create the conditions for eliciting false confessions."

In an interview, Keenan said Mr. Big confessions are more reliable when "the confession was accompanied by narrative details that could only have been known by the perpetrator or someone who knew the perpetrator, notwithstanding the context within which the self-incriminating statement was made."

But, he said, if the RCMP don't include a number of safeguards during the operation, the chance of a false confession increases.

"As it stands right now, there is no sort of safeguard or no way within the criminal law to test the reliability of these confessions," Keenan said.

The RCMP techniques have evolved over the 20-year period studied by Keenan. Now operators posing as crime bosses stress that the gang has a code of reliability, honesty and loyalty — to warn suspects not to admit to things they haven't done.

"Those are the sort of fundamental themes that resonate throughout these investigations," he said.

Keenan said that if the investigations are long-term — the operators in the James case, for instance, built a relationship for almost a year — the confessions tend to be more reliable.

In one case where a confession was later proven to be false, the investigation lasted less than a month, he said.

University of the Fraser Valley criminologist Darryl Plecas said the Mr. Big technique is an invaluable tool for law enforcement when there is no other way to advance a case.

"I think it is a great practice. The acid test is when they do it, does it work? And as it turns out, it does," he said.

He said the safeguards adequately protect against false confessions by ensuring that a suspect provides details about a crime that no one but investigators would have known.

"It is not like somebody sitting down badgering somebody and them providing snippets of what happened," Plecas said. "I think that concern is unfounded."

Above is the article by Kim Bolan for the Vancouver Sun.

To view the full video (or shall I say the 3 portions of the video) go to THIS LINK.

Jean Ann James, 72, killed friend in 1992, not eligible for parole for 25 years

Family members of murder victim Gladys Wakabayashi, who say they have waited 19 years for justice, were gratified to see a jury render a guilty verdict Friday.

After less than a day of deliberations, the B.C. Supreme Court jury found Wakabayashi's friend, Jean Ann James, guilty of first-degree murder for the June 1992 slaying.

Justice Catherine Bruce imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

The 72-year-old Richmond woman had little reaction to the verdict.

But several members of the victim's family were obviously relieved.

"We would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who contributed so much and helped us so much," Susanna Yang, Wakabayashi's sister-in-law, said outside court, thanking the Vancouver police, the RCMP, the judge and the jury for a "wonderful job."

"We just think that the justice system works even after this amount of time, that something like this can come to fruition and that the long arm of the law is a true statement," said Doran Aisenstat, Wakabayashi's son-in-law.

Yang said the past 19 years had been "very difficult," but the family never gave up.

The verdict in the sensational trial followed about three weeks of evidence, the most compelling of which was James' taped confession to undercover cops.

The body of 41-year-old Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire, was found in her Shaughnessy home.

No charges were initially laid, and the case lay cold for nearly 15 years, until Vancouver police reviewed the file and launched a year-long undercover operation aimed at getting a confession from James.

The so-called Mr. Big operation took James through dozens of scenarios in which she was asked to perform tasks for what she was told was a criminal organization. She told undercover cops that she had no conscience and was willing to do anything for them.

At the end of the operation, James was told that there was a "big score" in which she could share in a $700,000 windfall for helping commit an unspecified crime.

James travelled to Montreal, where she was confronted by the "crime boss," an undercover cop, who demanded that she come clean about the murder of Wakabayashi.

In a confession captured on videotape and played for the jury, James explained calmly that she discovered Wakabayashi "screwing around" with her husband, Derek James.

"I slit her throat," she told the fake crime boss, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

James said she used box cutters to slash her friend across the throat and cut her on the legs in a bid to find out details of the infidelity.

James said she disposed of the murder weapon in a dumpster on the other side of town and threw her clothes in a school incinerator.

She said she used gloves during the crime, left nothing behind and never told her husband about it.

Though police had her as a suspect, she said she'd been to the Wakabayashi home several days before the murder to visit her friend and that "my fingerprints were all over the house."

"I didn't like the police coming around, but I wasn't shook up about it," she said.

James' lawyer, Aseem Dosanjh, argued Mr. Big confessions are by their very nature unreliable, some would say "notoriously" unreliable.

Friday, November 4, 2011

I can tell that this story interests a LOT of people, probably for different reasons. So far today over 600 people have visited this blog, 4000 people since the trial started. That's a lot considering this is a local cold case murder that is over 20 years old.

Thankfully, thank every and any God or devine spirit you believe in, Jean James is now in jail! Some justice for Gladys and her family. They have been so very patient, and trusting - in a system that failed them initially.

Who am I and why do I have a blog about this murder, and moreso this crazy woman, Jean Ann James? Will this blog die out and end now that Jean James has gone to jail for a murder she committed 20 years ago?

No. The is so much more to this story!! Her story.

I can tell you I have known about this murder since almost day one. I can tell you I have been in the company of Derek and Jean James - no, I am not friendly with them.I can tell you that there is so much more I can not tell you... Yet.

I have no intention of dragging Gladys Wakabayashi's name throughout the mud - or make constant reference to her rich father, like the papers felt they needed to do, as though that was the only validation stamp on her life - she suffered a fate that was not hers to suffer.

I want to tell you of a woman so evil that she regularly did wrong and created a life that was built on deceit.

Let's remember, the bulk of the information given at trial was referring to the sting that caused her to be recorded confessing. Very little information was given regarding the actual crime or the weeks, months and years before and after the murder.

I bet Derek James is sleeping better tonight than he has in 20 years. No presents from Jean to worry about.

I want to say that Kim Bolan @The Vancouver Sun provided excellent coverage through the trial.

Jury convicts Jean Ann James of Boxcutter Murder.

Jean Ann James expressed no emotion Friday morning when a jury found her guilty in the first-degree murder of Gladys Wakabayashi.

At 72, she will likely spend the rest of her life in jail with an automatic sentence of 25 years to life.

Yet she didn’t break down and cry, or express anger, or regret. She looked straight ahead and then she walked away with a sheriff to her new life in prison.

On the other hand, Gladys Wakabayashi’s family did break down. Her sister-in-law Susanna, cried and smiled. She hugged prosecutor Kerr Clark outside court. A family friend said “justice at last.”

Wakabayashi’s throat was slit with boxcutters about 9:15 a.m. on June 24, 1992. For years, James kept her dark secret, even when police searched her house a week or so after the crime. But she was lured by an undercover operation where a number of officers posed as members of a crime ring that embraced the eager James in its activities. She eventually confessed to a skilled operative posing as the crime boss in chilling detail, saying she felt no regrets about killing her former friend.

James’ lawyers had suggested she fabricated the confession using details from newspaper articles at the time. But a jury saw it differently. They deliberated for less than eight hours before convicting her.

Family members of murder victim Gladys Wakabayashi, who say they have waited 20 years for justice, were gratified to see a jury render a guilty verdict Friday.

After less than a day of deliberations, the B.C. Supreme Court jury found Jean Ann James, a friend of Wakabayashi, guilty of first-degree murder in the June 1992 slaying.

B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Catherine Bruce imposed on James, 72, the mandatory sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

The Richmond senior had little reaction to the jury's verdict.

But several members of the victim's family were obviously relieved.

"We would like to extend our gratitude to everybody who contributed so much and helped us so much," Susanna Yang, Gladys' sister-in-law, said outside court.

She thanked the Vancouver police, the RCMP, the judge and the jury for a "wonderful job."

"We just think that the justice system works even after this amount of time, that something like this can come to fruition and that the long arm of the law is a true statement," said Doran Aisenstat, Gladys' son-in-law.

"It doesn't stop. If a crime is committed, justice is going to be served."

Yang said the past 19 years had been been "very difficult" but the family never gave up.

Aisenstat said he wasn't surprised at James' reaction, calling her a "cold individual, without a conscience," as the accused had portrayed herself to undercover cops.

"For her to have had the life she has had for the last 19 years, knowing what wad in her history, it's obviously a huge vindication for us."

The verdict in the sensational trial followed about three weeks of evidence, the most compelling of which was James’s taped confession to undercover cops.

It was 19 years ago that the body of 41-year-old Wakabayashi was found in her home in the posh neighbourhood of Shaughnessy.

No charges were initially laid by Vancouver police and the case lay cold for nearly 15 years, until police reviewed the file and launched a year-long undercover operation aimed at getting a confession from James.

The so-called Mr. Big operation took James through dozens of scenarios in which she was asked to perform tasks for what she was told was a criminal organization.

During one scenario, in which undercover cops stage a kidnapping, James is asked what they should do with the victim.

She responds that they should cut his “knackers” off.

James also told undercover cops that she had no conscience and was willing to do anything for them.

At the end of the operation, James is told that there is a “big score” in which she can share in a $700,000 windfall for helping commit an unspecified crime.

She travels to Montreal, where she is confronted by the “crime boss,” an undercover cop who demands that she come clean about the murder of Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.

In a confession captured on videotape and played for the jury, James explains calmly that she discovered Wakabayashi “screwing around” with her husband, Derek James.

“I slit her throat,” the accused told the fake crime boss, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.

James says she used box cutters to slash her friend across the throat and cut her on the legs in a bid to find out details of the infidelity.

“I just went around to her and confronted her about it and she lied to me ... She just started laughing in my face and I just got furious and I did it.”

The accused said she disposed of the murder weapon in a dumpster on the other side of town and took her clothes and threw them in a school incinerator.

She said she used gloves during the crime, left nothing behind and never told her husband about the crime.

Though police had her as a suspect, she said she’d been to the Wakabayashi home several days before the murder to visit her friend and that “my fingerprints were all over the house.”

“I didn’t like the police coming around, but I wasn’t shook up about it,” she said.

In final submissions to the jury, Crown counsel Kerr Clark argued that James was in a jealous rage when she murdered her friend.

Her husband had had other affairs, but the accused’s anger was heightened by the fact that Wakabayashi was a trusted friend, said Clark.

James’s lawyer, Aseem Dosanjh, argued Mr. Big confessions are by their very nature unreliable, some would say “notoriously” unreliable.

He noted there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence and submitted that it was a “false-confession case.”(Article above from the Province online & photo from Vancouver Sun online.)